Sunday, August 14, 2016

Judy Penz Sheluk’s latest release is Skeletons in the Attic, the first book in the Marketville Mystery
Series, and her first title with Imajin Books. The protagonist in Skeletons is Calamity (Callie) Barnstable,
a thirty-six-year-old woman from Toronto. Judy recently sat down with Callie in
her new home to find out why she moved to the commuter town of Marketville,
which is located about an hour north of Toronto.

Judy: You’re
thirty-six and single. By your own admission, Marketville is the sort of town
where folks with two kids, a cat, and a collie come to live. Why the move?

Callie: Trust me,
it wasn’t my idea. My father died recently in an at-work accident and he left
me this house. I didn’t even know the house existed, if you can believe that.
On top of it all, in order to inherit, I have to live here for a year.

Judy: The house
needs some work, but how bad could it be? Plus I caught a glimpse of your
next-door neighbor. He’s handsome in that hunky reality TV handyman sort of way,
and I didn’t spot a wedding band.

Callie: That
would be Royce Ashford, and yes, he’s hot and single. [blushes] But you didn’t
let me finish. In order to inherit, I have to try and find out who murdered my
mother thirty years ago.

Judy: Wow. Your
mom was murdered when you were six? That must have been hard on you and your
father.

Callie: I’m sure
it was hard on my dad, especially since her body was never found and he was
considered a suspect. But until the reading of the will, I always thought my
mother had left us for the milkman or some other male equivalent. So the big
shocker was finding out that my dad had kept the true story away from me all
these years. I suppose that’s why we moved to Toronto when I was seven. I don’t
have any real memories of living here, though I’m starting to get the odd
flashback.

Judy: Why would
your father put that clause in the will? Do you have a background in
investigation?

Callie: Hardly.
Before I moved here, I worked in a bank call center. But I’ve already found a
few things in the house that have provided clues to my mother’s past. [shivers]
Not everything was a welcome find. One of the things I found was a skeleton in
the attic.

Judy: A skeleton?
In the attic?

Callie: Uh huh.
Among other things. I’d rather not say any more about it. Can we switch
subjects?

Judy: Of course. Do
you have anyone helping you?

Callie: [laughs]
There’s this self-proclaimed psychic, Misty Rivers. She managed to convince my
dad that she could help find out what happened to my mother—for a fee, of
course. As if I was going to fall for that.

Judy: This sounds
like it would make a great book. Do you mind if I write about your experience
trying to solve a thirty-year-old mystery?

Callie: Let me
pour you a cup of tea. If you’re going to write a book about me, I have a whole
lot more to tell you…